Camallanus Worms Questions!

The flubendazole can be bought in dog wormer, quite cheaply. It's what I used to medicate the food for my fish. Watched a tutorial on homemade medicate fishfood on YouTube (actually shared with me by a member of this site) and worked a treat!
 

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Yes that's what it is. Seems like I have to buy an awful lot. I can only see Flubendazole for sale on that page. But his website isn't secure so I didn't complete the form to find out....
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If it's Levamisole HCI drench powder, it's the same stuff Btw, I didn't notice her concave belly until now. I noticed it in other fish that wasted though.

I only bought 10 grams, treated all my fish and still have some left. That's why I suggest to use the smaller effective dosage. (I can't get anymore since I live in Canada and all fish meds are banned. I'm screwed when I run out! I treat all my new fish in QT now before they go into my main tanks. I'm hoping dewormers will be available for Canadian hobbyists before I run out completely) but I had enough to treat the actual infestatation.

See PM
 

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I can't get anymore since I live in Canada and all fish meds are banned. I'm screwed when I run out! I treat all my new fish in QT now before they go into my main tanks. I'm hoping dewormers will be available for Canadian hobbyists...

Sorry I can't help more with obtaining Levamisole. Like I said, I can't get it anymore myself.
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I am a Canadian living in the UK and have the same problem! I can order online from other countries but then there is a delay for delivery. Thus looking at all other options.
 
Magicpenny75 I’m so so sorry. Ugh.

So for those who have dealt with this....would you or do you now treat all new fish in quarantine with Levamisole?
I treated both my loach populations when I purchased them. I currently have tiger barbs from PetSmart that have been in quarantine for 4 weeks.
Was getting ready to move them to the main tank but now I’m thinking I might want to do a round of Levamisole in quarantine. ops:
 
Magicpenny75 I’m so so sorry. Ugh.

So for those who have dealt with this....would you or do you now treat all new fish in quarantine with Levamisole?
I treated both my loach populations when I purchased them. I currently have tiger barbs from PetSmart that have been in quarantine for 4 weeks.
Was getting ready to move them to the main tank but now I’m thinking I might want to do a round of Levamisole in quarantine. ops:
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I do deworm all the newbies now in QT. I just feed Fenbendazole though because it lasts longer that way. Feeding only works for fish that are actively eating, so for fish that are at probable risk or already showing symptoms, I'll do the Levamisole dosage in the water to ensure all fish are treated. If I could easily get Levamisole, I'd probably just use that though.

I look at it this way. I have now treated all my fish. So they are all camallanus free (I hope). If I treat all newcomers once (3 treatments of dewormer), than all my fish will be treated ONCE and I'll never have to deal with a callamanus outbreak and lose a bunch of fish again.
 
Here's the one who has it the worst... IMG_20190820_164251643.jpg
And the other older one has it too o think but not as advanced. MVIMG_20190820_164258687.jpg
And the third seems to be okay still. And also a ham for the camera...
MVIMG_20190820_164302574.jpg
 

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Yep definitely camallanus If they are still eating, that's a good sign. Hope the flakes arrive soon! Feed everyone. Like make sure everyone in the tank eats them.
 
I feel you, so far I have lost 4/6 of my guppies to camallanus and it looks like I will be losing the 5th too. I am also in Canada but was able to order levamisole online- though it took nearly 3 weeks to get here. While waiting for it one of my remaining guppies started eating less and tonight he was at the bottom of the tank :c

Good luck with your fish!
 
The medicated food arrived yesterday so I fed them last night. The worst of the angels didn't eat much, but she *did* eat, and again this morning. Same for the rainbows. The male looked like he wanted an antacid afterward, but he was fine this morning.
Good news is my tetras will never have worms....

BTW 4oz of flake was probably more than I'll need for both treatments, but I may do a third round just to be sure.
 
So the tetras gobbled up the flakes did they? Glad the fish that weren't feeling great ate a bit. Keep at it. Feed exclusively for as long as directions call for. You want them to eat it. Still hoping for all your fish!

Salem Sorry for your issues, I feel you all too! Such a horrible parasite. I wish you luck as well.
 
It really is the worst. It's like hookworms for fish. Except you can't just pry their mouth open and toss a pill down. Reminds me of when I had to give my cat metrodinazole (sp?). I didn't see her for three days. Every time she saw me coming she took off because it tasted so bad.
I am really glad that the fish seem to like the flakes though. Praying that they will be feeling better this afternoon.
 

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I don't know if the flakes worked or not. I still see worms coming out, but maybe it takes a few days for them to all be expelled? Or am I seeing live worms still?? Or should I just rip the tank apart and start over? I don't have the resources, time, or space to keep the fish safe while I drain and disinfect the tank, so if I have to tear it apart it's gonna be genocide.
 
Flakes alone won't rid your tank of the worms. It only takes care of the ones already in the fish. Those worms have already dropped eggs in your tank that will hatch into larvae. The larvae will be eaten...and will grow into adult worms in the fish and the cycle continues. The larvae grows into adult worms inside the fish. Once they start sticking out of the fish, that is when they are dropping eggs. :-(

This is the best link out there in my opinion. It happens to be on a loaches website, but it applies to all fish when it comes to treating for these worms.

Levamisole Hydrochloride — Loaches Online

When I went through this, I lost zero fish once I started treatment. And no, it does not require tearing the tank apart and starting all over again. I followed the directions in that above link 100% and I did it to TWENTY tanks at ONCE (even though I only saw the worms in 2 of the tanks) just to be extra cautious. Cross contamination can happen very easily. Thank god I beat the worms using that link. Because I was feeling pretty hopeless there at first.

angelcraze has given great advice already.

I'll just add what I did...and that is very thorough vaccuming of the tanks every single day between the treatments with the levamisole. To try and catch as many eggs/larvae as I could. I treated the tanks 3 times, 2 weeks apart. Daily water changes for the whole time. (on 20 tanks! it was EXHAUSTING!!)

I also added Epsom salt to their tanks to try and help them expel the worms that were seemingly stuck inside them. That is what people typically use for constipated fish. And it did seem to help.

Camallanus worms are actually not as bad as people make them out to be. If they are caught early and treated properly....they can be beat without losing any fish or having to rip apart your tank. There are actually MUCH worse things that can enter our tanks than these worms. The one upside to camallanus worms is you know EXACTLY how to treat them. There are so many other illnesses out there that share the same symptoms as other illnesses leaving us playing guessing games on what medication to use. And often we pick the wrong med. With camallanus worms....there is no question about what med to use.

After going through the experience with those worms, I have gotten very very strict about my QT process. Sadly, some fish can live with those worms for MONTHS before they show signs. So even a 6 week QT period is not always enough. While the medicated flakes that treat camallanus worms would not be enough to rid your tanks of them when the red worms have already started poking out of the fish and dropping their eggs....the flakes SHOULD be enough if the fish has no red worms sticking out of them already. So I feed my new fish the flakes that treat camallanus worms. In fact, I have 3 different deworming flakes that I go through during QT. My current angelfish in QT has been in there for a month. Has had a week of all three foods and is looking great. But I am still keeping him in there a little longer. You can never be too careful!
 
I was thinking if you fed the flakes 3 times, 2 weeks apart, you'd get the second generation of worms and any stragglers. But I also did a lot of siphoning. That's why I say to siphon thoroughly for a while. If you can increase water changes for a bit, that would be helpful.

bizaliz3 made a good suggestion about the Epsom Salts. I like to add some to the food while I'm treating dewormers as it also acts as a laxative that way to help fish expel worms. I would do at least two more treatments, maybe 3 with the E. Salts. Make sure you follow directions and they eat it.

What med was used in the flakes? Fenbendazole?
 
Yes I got the fendbendazole flakes from Discus USA. To be honest, and I know this won't be popular but it's the truth and I"m not going to lie...I'm just not willing to do daily water changes and gravel vacuuming every day for weeks on end. Not when we are sitting here telling my daughter that she can only take a sit-down bath (as opposed to a shower) once a week because it runs the water bill up too much. Not when I'm lucky if I get to sit down for half an hour between work and bedtime as it is. I'm just not one of the people who has that much heart to spare. I would have to pretty much tear the tank apart because of all the plants, I can't get the siphon into all the areas of the bottom.
I really am sorry ladies. I am grateful for the effort you've put into trying to help me with this tank. I really admire your dedication and have so much respect for the work you have done on behalf of your fish. I probably won't update this thread again. Fighting this bug is more work than I can manage.
 
I say try feeding the flakes three more times two weeks apart and siphon as well as you can. I do believe when the worms are paralysed, they can't release eggs and die. When the second generation of worms emerge from egg they have to find a host or they will die. Get the 2nd gen with subsequent flake feedings. It's worth a shot right? Try it with Epsom Salts?
 
I definitely went to the extreme with mine. I may not have needed to do the daily vacuuming. But I was being overly cautious.

You might be fine with the flakes as long as everyone is eating! I didnt have the flakes. And many fish were not eating. So I didnt have that option.

Dont let yourself feel defeated just yet!! There is still hope!
 
Tank
Brio Aquaponics - Brio 35

What is the water volume of the tank? - 15 gallons
How long has the tank been running? - 4 months
Does it have a filter? - Sponge Pre-Filter and Grow Bed
Does it have a heater? - Yes
What is the water temperature? - 78F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)

Fish:
-- 2 Platy adults and 8 Juveniles
-- 6 Corydoras Hasbrosis
-- 1 Female Betta
-- 4 Amano Shrimp
-- 4 Cherry Shrimp
-- 1 Nerite Snail

Aquarium Plants:
-- Jungle Val
-- Water Wisteria
-- Anubias
-- Christmas Moss

Grow-bed Plants:
-- Sweet Basil
-- Oregano
-- English Thyme
-- Lemon Thyme

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? - Never (aquaponics)
How much of the water do you change? - Top Up Only
What do you use to treat your water? - Vitamin C
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? - Vacuum substrate waste into the grow bed.

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? - Yes
What do you use to test the water? - API Master Test Kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10ppm
pH: 7.8

Phosphates: 2.0ppm

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? - 3x day
How much do you feed your fish? - As much as they can eat in 5 minutes. Sometimes extra to keep the nitrates high enough for the plants.
What brand of food do you feed your fish? - Spirullina 20
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? - No

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? - 4 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? - 2 months
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? - Small red threads protruding out of the anus. Loss of appetite, wasting away and death.
Have you started any treatment for the illness? - No
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? - No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? - Yes. Emaciated.

Explain your emergency situation in detail.

I'm trying to get my hands "wet" in Aquaponics with a small 10 gallon setup.

I've had 4 Platy fish slowly weaken and pass away over the past 2 months. I noticed that they have small red threads protruding out of their anus. After doing research I believe I'm dealing with a Camallanus infection. It appears the fish are directly infecting each other as even the Juveniles are infected. This would indicate Camallanus Cotti.

From my research there are two possible treatments to cure the nematode infection, Fenbendazole and Levamisole. However, looking up these medications reveals they may not be good for human health. Since I'm growing herbs and vegetables in the grow bed I'm concerned that any medication used in treating the fish will end up in the produce.

I read that Camallanus Cotti is viable for 3 generations. Does that mean that the nematodes will eventually breed themselves out of existence?

The corydoras hasbrosus don't appear to be infected. Although, I have noticed some occasionally flashing. Are they immune to the parasite?

There is precious little information available online on how to treat these nematodes in an aquaponics system.

Does anyone have any experience or advice that could be of help?

Thanks so much for your help.
 
If I cull all the fish in the aquarium will I need to cull the shrimp and snails as well?
 
FYI

It looks like Fenbendazole is relatively safe and non-toxic. Please see the following petition to permit usage in Organic certified food products https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Fenbendazole Petition.pdf

Since it is non-soluble in water or lipids it tends to eliminate quickly from the animal under treatment and stay in the immediate environment (in the studied case the soil).

I'm planning on treating the fish with flakes mixed with the medication.

I'm still trying to figure out if I should treat them in a hospital tank or in the main tank.

Also, how will I get the Corydoras Hasbrosis to eat the flakes?

Let me know if you folks have any thoughts.

Thanks.
 

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Hm. This is tough because of the aquaponics, it's my worst nightmare. I would quarantine all your fish in the hospital tank for sure. Then you can use the Fenbendazole, I'd use the oral kind meant for dogs and bind to the fish food with Focus.
 
Here's an update.
  1. I got Fenbendazole and mixed it with Flakes with a small amount of water
  2. I flattened the medicated mixture on aluminum foil and let it dry
  3. Transferred fish from main tank into 5 gallon buckets (hospital tanks)
  4. Waited 30 minutes and offered the medicated food
Unfortunately, none of the fish accepted the medicated food.
 
Make sure you don't offer any other food. Maybe mix in a few normal flakes with the treated ones at feeding time and see if it makes any difference.

If the cories were in the infected tank, but aren't showing symptoms, just quarantine them by themselves for a while and see if any symptoms show up. Also, to prevent infection, you may want to try (completely) dissolving a pinch of Epsom salt in a little bit of tank water, and soaking their food in it before feeding. That is a known preventative measure.
 
Update

I ended up using the shallow bath method and it seems to have worked.

I'm using several 5 gallon buckets as hospital tanks and changing the water every 12 hours.

It's been 12 hours and the fish are passing worms. However, I expected to see a massive amount of them but I'm only seeing a few here and there.

Some of them are quite long and some are very short. It seems the worm length is related to the fish size. Some look to be transparent (it could be feces?).

Is it safe to assume that the treatment is complete when I no longer see worms protruding from the anal vent? Only one fish still has a worm protruding. When should I return the fish to the main tank?

The Corydoras Habrosus produced no worms whatsoever. They were also much harder to net compared to the others, so they seem to be much healthier. However, I noticed that one of them had died since I stocked the tank although I never saw a body (I assume it was eaten by the other fish and shrimp).

I'll pick up some Epsom salt and try soaking some dried blood worms/shrimp in it to see if they'll accept it.

Thanks for your suggestions!
 
Update

I ended up using the shallow bath method and it seems to have worked.

I'm using several 5 gallon buckets as hospital tanks and changing the water every 12 hours.

It's been 12 hours and the fish are passing worms. However, I expected to see a massive amount of them but I'm only seeing a few here and there.

Some of them are quite long and some are very short. It seems the worm length is related to the fish size. Some look to be transparent (it could be feces?).

Is it safe to assume that the treatment is complete when I no longer see worms protruding from the anal vent? Only one fish still has a worm protruding. When should I return the fish to the main tank?

The Corydoras Habrosus produced no worms whatsoever. They were also much harder to net compared to the others, so they seem to be much healthier. However, I noticed that one of them had died since I stocked the tank although I never saw a body (I assume it was eaten by the other fish and shrimp).

I'll pick up some Epsom salt and try soaking some dried blood worms/shrimp in it to see if they'll accept it.

Thanks for your suggestions!
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Ok, sounds good. You seem to be making some good progress! I'd continue treatment until they haven't passed worms for 24 hours. Remember to vacuum the bottom to get any worms that are passed. I'd also wait a week of being worm free to help the fish recover and be sure there aren't any worms before returning to the tank.
 
Hmm. I had already returned some fish to the main tank after I thought they were completely worm free. Now I noticed that a couple appear to have a few more worms moving through their anus.

However, I don't think they've actually expelled any worms inside the main tank yet.

  • How critical is it that no worms make it back into the main tank?
  • If I happen to have missed one is it going to definitively cause a re-infection or only if the fish decide to eat it?
  • If there is plenty of flake food available will the fish prefer that over the expelled worms?
  • I observed that the expelled worms appeared to be dead and not merely paralyzed. Does Fenbendazole actually kill the worms?
  • I'm assuming that there are still eggs and larvae remaining in the tank. If that's the case what is the urgency of removing expelled worms?
  • Are we mainly trying to reduce overall parasitic load through the first treatment course; with the actual eradication accomplished in the 2nd and 3rd treatment?
 
Fenbendazole isn't very water soluble so water treatments might not be that effective.

If medicating food isn't working then I'd recommend levamisole in the water. It may be photosensitive so try to turn down the lights as much as possible.

Apparently all dewormers taste terrible (praziquantel is particularly awful). I once starved Oscars for two weeks to get them to eat anti-parasite pellets and they still wouldn't eat them.

When I had a bird, he was very reluctant to drink medicated water and birds (except vultures) have very few taste buds.

I assume my clown loaches have a pretty good sense of taste given that they have barbels.

I fed Mazuri gel diets to my birds and fish and found that they concealed the taste of any medications. My life got a little bit easier.
 
Yep. They hate the taste. You can use some garlic guard (from Seachem I believe) to help with the taste as well.

Your main tank needs to be parasite free, it should ONLY be for clean, healthy fish that you would display. Any sick or newly recovering fish need to be in quarentine, especially with a contagious disease like this. You don't want to have even one fish with contagious worms in a the tank where healthy fish go. You don't want sick fish hanging around your food.

Remove any infected fish from the main tank and back into quarentine. Once they have gone at least three days post treatment without any symptoms I would call it safe. Vacuum the bottom of all tanks with with infected fish daily. We don't want to take any chances.

To my knowledge Fenbendazole only paralyzes the worms.I

I believe so.
 
Another update.

I lost about half of my fish. I did an autopsy on each and found that some had completely expelled the worms but then appeared to die out of exhaustion. Others died with worms still in their gut.

I still have 3 fish in quarantine with active infections but they seem to be having a hard time expelling the worms (2 platy and 1 betta). I administered 3 more sessions of shallow baths in medicated water in hopes that they swallow more medication. I've also tried feeding small amount of regular flakes with no success. I'm going to continue treatment until they either pass the worms or die.

I returned the corydoras catfish to the main tank. They never displayed any symptoms nor expelled any worms. I'm kind of surprised by that outcome.

I also returned 4 platy juveniles who now appear to be worm free. I'm monitoring them closely to see if they exhibit any worms. They are now eating normally and passing feces normally.

I plan to re-treat the tank in 3 weeks and update this thread with regular progress. I'm hoping that my case will provide some help for someone else.

I really wish there were more research papers written on treatment for this pathogen, especially as it seems to be relatively common.
 

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If medicating food isn't working then I'd recommend levamisole in the water.
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Unfortunately I can't use this drug as it is water soluble and can have negative impacts to human health. But if this wasn't an aquaponics setup that would be a great suggestion!
 
I'm so sorry, that's so frustrating. I'm glad the corries are doing well, even though that's kind of weird they weren't infected. There is a huge lack of info in the hobby, it's so annoying. Hopefully we will change that around oneday. Here's wishing the best for your fish my friend!
 
I think I figured out why the corydoras are unaffected. Since removing the other fish there has been an explosion of copepods. I suspect that the corydoras catfish don't eat the copepods but that the other fish do.
 
The fish are not eating the Fenbendazole laced food. I used a syringe to spray a stream of medicated water in an attempt to force feed them the medication.

Unfortunately, the worms are not eliminating from the fish. I suspect I may have to cull my fish (except for the corydoras). Wait 4 weeks for any eggs/larva to make their way out of the copepods and re-stock.

Do you see any other alternatives?
 
Injecting Fenbendazole down the gullet has not been successful.

I just read that copepods can live from 6 months to a year. I just did a 100% water change (actually I rinsed the tank and removed that too). I lost another fish and a couple shrimp.
 
I'm so sorry. At this point, you've done everything you can. I think now the best thing for the fish would be euthanasia. You've tried all the forms of treatment you can, and there isn't anything left that we know of.
Do you have clove oil? I consider it to be the kindest form of euthanasia for fish. I've had to use it before myself sadly, but I do think it was a peaceful and kind goodbye. It's still so sad though. I cried for hours. At least you didn't lose your whole stock though, that's better than nothing I guess.
 
The fish are not eating the Fenbendazole laced food. I used a syringe to spray a stream of medicated water in an attempt to force feed them the medication.

Do you see any other alternatives?
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Gelatin food:

Mazuri | Mazuri® Exotic Animal Nutrition

I put fenbendazole or anything else I want in 5ML6 and my fish eat it without hesitation. They are picky eaters and won't even eat unmedicated Repashy gel food. I feed them 5ML6 as their regular food so they're familiar with it.

Gel food is powder that you mix (not with a blender) with boiling water. I add the medication at that time and it's thoroughly and evenly mixed. The gelatin sets and locks it in place so it's not washed away when it hits the water nor concentrated at the surface (which I think makes it taste worse).
 
I'm so sorry. At this point, you've done everything you can. I think now the best thing for the fish would be euthanasia. You've tried all the forms of treatment you can, and there isn't anything left that we know of.
Do you have clove oil? I consider it to be the kindest form of euthanasia for fish. I've had to use it before myself sadly, but I do think it was a peaceful and kind goodbye. It's still so sad though. I cried for hours. At least you didn't lose your whole stock though, that's better than nothing I guess.
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No, absolutely not. There are still many things to try.
 
I theorized that the fish might not be eating due to a stress response of being in the quarantine 5 gallon bucket. I ended up feeding them the same medicated flakes in the main tank where they reluctantly ate it.

I wanted to avoid introducing a chemical into the system but there seemed to be no other choice. Therefore I tried to feed very sparingly.

After each course of medicated food I did a complete 100% water change and vacuumed the gravel thoroughly.

I did this for a total of 3 weeks followed by another 4th 100% water change to attempt to remove any remaining medication.

In the end I lost no corydoras hasbrosus catfish but I lost all of my adult platies and several of the fry who were infected. I also lost a nerite snail. The shrimp handled the treatment fine.

Only the fry that had no visible worms survived the treatment.

The adults expelled worms but in the end they seemed to not have enough energy to expel the final few worms. I did an autopsy and found that some worms appeared to have migrated into the muscle tissue of some of the fish.

Regrettably platies just weren't built to handle this parasite which they would not have been exposed to in the wild without human intervention.

I just have to try to remember that parasites are actually a good thing for the overall ecosystem.
The World's Parasites Are Going Extinct. Here’s Why That’s a Bad Thing

Conclusion:
I think they key lesson learned is that fenbendazole was an effective treatment with minimal environmental impact.

However, early treatment is critical to reduce mortality.
 
So today I noticed little red worms protruding from my betta's anus. A couple of days ago, my partner noticed them on the albino threadfin acara too. So that's my 160 litre and 12 gallon tank infected with these awful things. We use the same syphon and net for the 160 on the 425, so from what I understand that tank could be infected too (although I havent seen any worms on any of the fish in there).

After doing a little bit of research it seems like getting rid of these worms is a holy nightmare. One step being to sanitize all decor. My 12 gallon is planted, how would sanitizing that work?

I also read this thread How To Get Rid Of Camallanus/nematode Worms | Freshwater Fish Disease and Fish Health Forum | 41023 which at one point says people suggest putting down all your fish, breaking the whole tank down and starting from scratch? Between these 3 tanks I have hundreds of pounds worth of fish. Losing most or all of them is definitely my ticket out of the hobby.

I'm freaking out a little bit tbh, what should do I? And if you've had experience with these worms what was the outcome for you?
 

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I have never had to treat this but my best suggestion is treating with a dewormer and/or a parasitic medicine. Fenbendizol (probably spelt that wrong) and API general cure perhaps? That’s the best I got, hope it turns out okay
Edit: just read through attached thread. It said they’re possibly immune to it? Maybe try the suggested treatment in the thread? I’ve heard great things about that medicine for parasite.
 
I'll definitely try it. I'm hoping someone will come along with a less doom and gloom experience with these worms and maybe some reassurance that my fish arent all going to die
 
I read this entire article and it is very informative. I noticed especially that under "treating" he states that public aquariums use Fenbendazole exclusively to treat for these worms. He also recommends putting them in bare bottom hospital tank so you can easily vacuum up the dead worms.
 
Dippiedee I just got through this with 3 of my tanks. At first I used Fenbandazole and Levamisole flakes but they didn't work well.
Then I got Levamisole HCL powder and put it in the water - that worked for all my fish except one large angelfish, maybe she had the most.
I put that angelfish in quarantine and did a longer treatment, the worms were still sticking out (some live some dead) out so I held her gently in water and was able to pull out the last worms with tweezers. Since then none of my fish have any more worms, including that angelfish.
So from my experience your best bet is Levamisole HCL powder in the water...and if you can comfortably catch and hold your fish in water you can physically pull the worms out.
 
Treating worms isn't that straightforward. You have to pick the correct drugs and then get the dosage and method of administration correct. And then you often still need several repeat treatments. If you do it right you will eventually get rid of them.

Levamisole is the easiest to use. The dose recommended by vets is 2 mg/L after accounting for purity. Some websites recommend a much higher dose but that risks toxicity.

Fenbendazole is the safest but it has to be administered in food, preferably gel food.
 
Dippiedee I just got through this with 3 of my tanks. At first I used Fenbandazole and Levamisole flakes but they didn't work well.
Then I got Levamisole HCL powder and put it in the water - that worked for all my fish except one large angelfish, maybe she had the most.
I put that angelfish in quarantine and did a longer treatment, the worms were still sticking out (some live some dead) out so I held her gently in water and was able to pull out the last worms with tweezers. Since then none of my fish have any more worms, including that angelfish.
So from my experience your best bet is Levamisole HCL powder in the water...and if you can comfortably catch and hold your fish in water you can physically pull the worms out.
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How many treatments did it take to get rid of the worms in the other fish? And what was your cleaning process after treating?

Edit: also did you lose any fish during the outbreak?
 
This is the best article I've ever found.
Levamisole Hydrochloride — Loaches Online
I treated my tank with Levamisole. I needed it fast so I went to Jeffers(livestock supply store) and bought a package. The directions are in the article for dosing. I did black out my tank as the medication is light sensitive. Also be sure a lid or something for a top is on as the fish were really active and an angelfish did jump out. The worms have a lifecycle and you can not see them until they feed on the fish, then they turn red. I treated twice for good measure basically following the directions. I still have my original 2 angelfish 2 years later.
I did clean everything but I didn't over do it by taking everything out. If I can help with any questions let me know.
 
How many treatments did it take to get rid of the worms in the other fish? And what was your cleaning process after treating?

Edit: also did you lose any fish during the outbreak?
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Dippiedee One treatment so far, I did it 3 weeks ago and no worms since. I'm about to do the second treatment on all my tanks tomorrow morning (to make sure I kill any eggs). I can tell from my fish the worms are gone now.

I did lose some, because I was using the wrong meds at first and the levamisole took long to be shipped to me they got worse. So in that time my guppies (which I suspect brought the worms) looked so infested and some started dying. I decided to euthanise the worst looking ones before I got the meds and used the meds on the remaining stronger fish. By the way many of my fish like the cories, gudgeons and tetras never seemed to get them, but the angels, gouramis, livebearers and bettas got them.

After treating I just syphoned well and changed all the water using water changes over 2-3 days.
The only thing I disinfected was my manitenance equipment, buckets, syphons, nets etc. In bleach and water.
 
Ah I'm so relieved to hear experiences that arent straight up horror stories! I'll get some levamisole hg as that sounds like my best bet. Thank you everyone
 

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